Tuesday, December 18, 2012

BEING PLAYED

     HE THAT CANNOT REASON IS A FOOL.  HE THAT WILL NOT IS A BIGOT.  HE THAT DARE NOT IS A SLAVE.
                                                                              Andrew Carnegie

     In my social interactions I have refrained from joining the contentious arguments concerning the terrible shootings of Newtown.  Grief is the order of the day and those jumping onto causes compound that.  The Senator from New York jumped onto the national news advising President Obama to "exploit" this tragedy.  It is a mantra these days to "not let a good disaster go to waste".  What a sad commentary on society and politics.
     Words matter and have affect.  Politicians act on the direction of the wind and emotion.  Many take the public as a giant mass of unthinking groups that act upon emotion.  Thus there are people who design talking points to keep the message constant and hammered home without thought of real solutions and meaning.  Just a means to an end.
     It is sad when those with the power think that those below cannot discern fact from fiction.  And it may be true considering how things are today.  I try to speak from experience, observation, and study.
     There are thousands of individuals that suffer the same type of mental problems that the shooter had in Newtown.  A friend of mine has two children this way.  The experiences that she and here children have had in the schools and community are identical.  Mental stress aggravates these problems and the intense media and political coverage have forced them to stop watching the television.  The thought of having similar experiences as the shooter is terrifying to them.  If the capacity to do such heinous things is there, the fear of what they do and what society does increases the fear.
     The help available has had to be fought for by the parents and even when schools and social services know what needs these people have they have to be constantly fought for.  And once a child passes the age of 21 there is no more support even when it is known that support is needed.
      Statistics have no meaning for groups that will not equally look at them.  It is easier for a sound bite than to set down and discuss what can be done.  The quest for solutions turns to grab for more power.
     The fight for additional gun controls is an advocacy for setting aside the right to Habeaus Corpus and the empowerment for the government to grow at an exponential rate and turn the millions of law abiding citizens into criminals.  Yet the prisons overflow.
     Will all the high sounding self righteous rhetoric accomplish one thing?  No.  The shouting will succeed with further divisions and nothing will be accomplished.  With the fact that evil will always be there we have to guard against the individual who will find a way to accomplish the act. 
     There have been reported intervention with such individuals, even on that same day, that we are horrified when one slips through.  The horror should not diminish but the common theme seems to be that the signs for the act seem to always be there but know one will leave their comfort zone to point it out or do something about it.
     An argument that was brought home by a school district employee  is that we can protect airports and Washington and yet ignore the same answers in the schools.  A majority of teachers at his school want voluntary concealed carry.  The schools can also provide security officers.  It is a matter of cost and commitment.
     I hope that this will find its way into print since when I say something amusing there seems to be more regard.  I find nothing amusing to come from this horrible event.

2 comments:

  1. I cannot imagine a bigger recipe for disaster than a bunch of teachers carrying loaded guns at school. Just for starters, sooner rather than later, a distraught student (or one being "cute" or "funny") will get hold of a teacher's gun and create another tragedy. Or a teacher will feel threatened when a temporarily out-of-control student throws a desk and will shoot that student. Or. Or. Or. Teachers need to concentrate on teaching, not on carrying loaded weapons.

    If you want guns in schools for protection, we need trained police officers stationed at each school. Since schools are funded by taxes, as are police departments, that means the taxpayers have to be willing to pay for that level of protection, either by decreasing the number of teachers at the schools or by increasing the amount of taxes the community wants to pay. However, I've sadly come to the conclusion that most citizens, at least in this state, would rather risk dead children than pay more taxes.

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    1. When seconds count, police are only minutes away. Gaia, perhaps it might have slipped your notice that what is being advocated is concealed carry. The entire point of concealment is that no one knows you are carrying. Hence the point of a student getting ahold of a teachers weapon is moot. I suggest you google Harrold, TX. the district has a Guardian policy, which allows teachers, once properly trained, and liscenced to carry concealed. Notice there have been 0 incidents of any kind in the 5 years this policy has been in effect. 1 or 2 police, or security at a school are not the answer, they will simply become the first targets. Teachers in Israel have been armed for years, since the last school shooting many years back. Since arming the teachers, there has not been a successful school shooting since. Maniacs want soft, unarmed targets. That's why all these mass shootings take place in "gun-free" zones. The shooters know no one there will be armed, and they can acomplish all the carnage they want before the cops show up.

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